


Hit & Run

by Malectho



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Clubbing, Developing Relationship, Diners, F/F, M/M, Parents Han and Leia, Protective Poe Dameron, if you like him i wouldn't read this, kylo ren is a jerk sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 06:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13048620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malectho/pseuds/Malectho
Summary: Finn didn't know he needed someone like Poe Dameron until he punched Kylo Ren in the face





	Hit & Run

Some people, Finn decided, were extremely ill equipped to handle the cold. Dozens of people stood, all huddled up in a line in front of him, crowded around the door, trying to retain the smallest bit of heat from inside the club. Nobody had any coats on, God forbid it clash with their clubbing outfits. So girls stood shaking in their short skirts and boys in cut off tanks. It was Valentine's Day and they had to know they weren’t going to get in right away and they should have come prepared. He looked at his watch and made a mental note to let in another small wave in fifteen minutes, even though nobody was leaving the club. 

The First Order, had become increasingly popular in the last six months, ever since word got out that famous rock star Kylo Ren was a regular. Finn had been a bouncer for two years, ever since he turned 21. He himself wasn’t a major partier, but the pay was good, and he had to defer his college education after he lost his scholarship. The plan was to go back next year, although he sometimes wondered if he could just keep living like this forever. It admittedly was not the best place to work, and certainly not the most honorable, but it paid the bills, and he wasn't sure if he really needed more than that. 

Finn walked over and unhooked the velvet rope. “Okay, twelve of you can go,” He shouted, and was met with exasperated moans from the back of the line, followed by a few people leaving, most likely to try and salvage their nights somewhere else. Each of the lucky twelve people flashed their ID’s in his face in a flurry, all attempting to make it in without wasting anymore time. Over the years Finn had become a master at quick analysis, and he managed to catch couple people with obviously fake IDs. The two boys cursed him out as they walked away, but Finn just shrugged it off and ushered two new people in. They were one of the few couples he had seen that night. Probably because nobody in a committed relationship, would spend their Valentine’s Day at The First Order, notoriously a place for a quick one night stands. Perfect for the people who wanted to pretend to be passionately in love for a night like tonight. Finn almost pitied them, but then he remembered that it was probably even sadder to be working at a club on Valentine’s Day.

It was only 1 a.m., which meant he had three hours left until closing then he could go home, and do well, he wasn’t really sure. Probably watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine, for the millionth time. There wasn’t a whole lot to do when you get off of work at 4 a.m. and go to bed at noon. As for his dating life, well, that had pretty much been dead ever since he took the job. The majority of people he interacted with in his professional life were usually obscenely drunk or high off their asses which was fairly unappealing. 

“Finn,” Slip called as he ran outside and nearly crashed right into him. Slip had started working there about a month ago when they realized they needed more bodies to keep everything under control. The kid was too much of a push over to work outside, they’d learned that when the club went over maximum capacity and people were nearly trampling over each other. “There is a fight inside.”

“What the hell man,” Finn exclaimed. “Get back inside it’s your job to break that shit up.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Slip said. He looked panicked, and Finn, while irritated, knew he couldn’t let the new guy out to dry.

“Fuck, okay, I’ll go take care of it, you stay here,” Finn told him and opened the door. “And don’t let anyone in.”

Tonight DJ Phasma was blaring a remix of some song Finn had never heard of and didn’t really care to. The aspect he despised the most of his job were the times when he had to enter the club itself. Weaving through the mass of sweaty bodies groping and grinding together. Okay if he was being honest, he hated his job. Hated it. He just couldn’t go back to school. Not yet. 

After a few brief seconds that felt more like interminable minutes of shoving his way through the mob, Finn finally determined the source of the fighting right in front of the bar. Although it wasn’t so much a fight anymore, as there was one man crouched on the ground clutching his nose, and another man was hovering above him shouting. Rey, his best friend and quite frankly the only good part about work, was screaming at the two of them, standing toward the back of the bar that she tended nearly every night. A small crowd had formed around them, but for the most part, it seemed that people were unaware and preoccupied with their own forced enjoyment. 

When he got close enough, he realized that the man laying in the fetal position on the ground was none other than Kylo Ren, and the people surrounding them were his bandmates. Finn moved between Kylo and the other man, whose face he still couldn’t see behind his hand. “Everything alright here gentlemen?”

Kylo spoke first. “This asshole fucking attacked me,” He shouted. “I think he broke my nose.”

“That’s not true Finn,” Rey said, she had come out from behind the bar to stand next to him. “Poe was just trying to help.”

“Poe?” Finn asked quizzically.

Rey pointed to the the man that had gotten in a fight with Kylo, Poe apparently. “Poe is roommates with Jessika. Kylo has been harassing me for a bit, and I wanted to just blow it off, but Poe found out and I guess he came down here,” Rey explained. 

Jessika was Rey’s girlfriend of five months. Finn had met her a few times, even been to her apartment, but he hadn’t heard anything about her roommate. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Finn asked. 

“Because it’s Kylo, we’re supposed to treat him like royalty,” Rey explained. “Besides I can take care of myself.”

“He called you a bitch just because you got his order wrong on one of the busiest nights of the year,” Poe, said, turning to Finn. Even in the unflattering neon lights of the club, he could see that the man was stunning, save for fairly prominent and repugnant black eye. He had tousled black hair, and stared with deep brown eyes that made Finn curse the fact he had a job to do. 

“Rey, is that true?” Finn asked, and Rey nodded in response.

“I finally told him to fuck off, and then he reached across the bar and tried to grab me,” Rey explained. “I totally could have handled it myself, drunk idiots try it all the time. But Poe came out of nowhere and told him to leave, and that’s when Kylo punched him. Poe hit him back, only harder.”

 

“Nearly made him cry too,” Poe laughed, leaning against the bar.

“You broke my nose!” Kylo shouted defensively, and then turned Finn. There was blood dripping from his nose past his mouth, and from the way it bent it was definitely broken. Finn might have felt sorry for him if he wasn’t such a huge asshole. “I want him kicked out! Kick him out or I’m calling the police.”

“Really?” Finn rolled his eyes. “And what are you going to tell them when they find out you’ve been grabbing at girls in bars?”

“You can’t talk to me like that,” Kylo stuttered, clearly shocked. He and Finn had always been fairly civil to each other, at least when they saw each other at the entrance, which was briefly since Kylo Ren did not wait in lines.

“I’m sure he’d rather not be talking to you at all,” Poe muttered.

“You,” Kylo pointed at him. “Need to shut the hell up.”

“Are you serious? I’m not going to be intimidated by you,” Poe rolled his eyes. “Especially after watching you crumble so easily.”

“Finn, last chance. Throw him out or I’m leaving,” Kylo threatened. 

“No, I don’t think so. He’s right I really don’t want to talk to you, or even see your face for that matter, so why don’t you get out.”

“You know what. Screw you. I’m going to go find Hux and you are going to regret this.” Kylo seethed, before storming away, his group following. Finn watched him go, he knew what kind of power Kylo held here. What he says goes, he might as well own the place himself. He was as good as fired. 

Rey wasn’t standing by Finn anymore, she had gone over to Poe and the two were huddled deep in conversation, Rey punched him in the arm and then went back behind the bar, beginning to fill a bag up with ice from the freezer, presumably for his eye. The two men made eye contact, and Poe smiled at him, and Finn looked at the floor to try and hide the fact that he was blushing. Rey handed Poe the bag, and Poe said something to her, before he walked over to Finn. 

“Thanks for that,” Poe said, and he was smiling at Finn again, and despite the fact that his entire life was probably about to be ruined, Finn couldn’t help but smile back. “I really hope you don’t get fired.”

“Honestly, it’s fine,” Finn assured him. “I really should have quit a long time ago.”

“Well, I hate to hit and run, but I should go before I start some more trouble,” Poe said. 

“Oh yeah of course,” Finn replied, rubbing the back of his head. “I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

“Hey, the night is young,” Poe said, biting his lip. “Call me if you get fired.” 

“What?” Finn asked bewildered, but Poe was already leaving, slipping into the crowd, that Finn was just noticing had gotten drastically bigger, all of New York might as well have been packed into the building. Fucking Slip. 

“Did that idiot just tell you to call him without giving you his number,” Rey called over to him, visibly cringing. “Why does he have to try to be so dramatic. Let me get this next round and I’ll give it to you.”

“Finn!” Hux barked behind him, laughably fitting with his role as Kylo’s lap dog. “Did you just try and kick Kylo out?”

“Yes,” Finn replied without any further explanation. 

“Are you trying to put us out of business?” Hux pressed.

“No, but I suppose it wouldn’t be the worst thing,” Finn shrugged.

“Finn, I think you need to get your priorities straight,” Hux demanded. “Kylo is in my office. Go apologize or get out.”

He thought about it for a moment. Of course, he’d always known The First Order was a disgusting place. The only reason he was working there was because he was afraid of going back to school, and getting his degree. For God’s sake he had one year left and then he could be a teacher. That was his dream, or at least it was supposed to be.

“Well I guess I quit then,” Finn said. For a second he wasn’t entirely sure he had actually said it, because Hux was expressionless. Although, he usually looked like that anyways.

“What?” Hux asked.

“What?” Rey interrupted from where she must have been eavesdropping at the bar.

“I’m done,” Finn stated, a little to estatically, but damn it was freeing. He walked away from Hux and over to Rey, who was staring at him with her mouth agape. 

“I can’t believe you just fucking did that,” She laughed, giving him a high five. Finn was well aware of the hole his now ex-boss was burning into the back of his head. 

“Can you give me that guy’s number,” Finn said, notivable more sheepish now than he had been five seconds ago. 

“What-oh yeah, give me one sec,” Rey responded, reaching into her apron pocket and pulling out her phone. Yeah, Hux was not going to like seeing that, and Finn felt bad that he could be getting her in trouble, but then he remembered that Rey did whatever she wanted, and wouldn’t be doing it if she did not want to. She scribbled a number down on a cocktail napkin and slid it across the table. “Here you go. I’ll call you after my shift is over.”

Finn nodded, and spared one last glance at Hux, who was giving him a death stare which he took as his cue to leave. He shoved his way through the crowd that had formed around the bar since Rey had been momentarily out of commision (they had other bartenders but they really couldn’t do anything more than poor a beer), for the last time. 

He went out the back so he wouldn’t have to talk to Slip. The kid was nice enough, and Finn had half a mind to tell him to run for the hills, but he really did not want or have the energy to explain what he had done.

The napkin was crumpled up in his pocket, and it felt heavier than it should. He chewed his lip as he debated whether or not he really wanted to call him. It wasn’t like he had any plans, and if he waited too long like he usually did with people he was into, Poe might lose interest. 

Adrenaline still pumping through his veins, Finn walked, more like ran, a few blocks away from the club, where it was less noisy. Still noisy, since it was New York, but less noisy. He took his phone out of the pocket of his fleece lined denim jacket, along with napkin. After a couple moments of hesitation, he punched the number in and hit call, pressing the phone to his ear. 

“Hey this is Poe Dameron. Leave a message I guess.”

For a hot second he panicked, maybe he had totally misread the situation. That was impossible though because Poe had told him to call him if he got fired. Then he heard the tone which meant it looked like he was leaving a voicemail, and oh shit he needed to calm down because of course Poe hadn’t picked up he didn’t have his number in his phone. 

“Hi Poe. This is Finn. Wait, fuck I didn’t tell you my name did I? The guy you met at the club. Friend of Rey’s. Guy who just got fired for saving your ass. Well I didn’t get fired I quit. But I guess that doesn’t matter. Um, yeah, I’m calling you because you said to. I’ve got nothing going on for the rest of the night, and you’re cute, I swear I’m not usually this forward. I probably sound desperate and I’m just going to go now bye,” Finn stammered it all out at once without taking a breath. He ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket. The guy was going to think he’s crazy. He leaned against the building he was in front of and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This was very sporadic for him. Everything that had just happened in the past hour. Now he was pining over a man he had barely talked to, instead of going home and trying to straighten shit out.

His phone buzzed inside his pocket, and he reached for it frantically, fumbling with it so much that he nearly dropped it. A text from Poe stared back at him. 

_Hey! Srry my phone was on silent. There is this diner called the Cantina? Meet there??:)_

Finn texted back a quick okay and then looked up the restaurant on google, it was only ten minutes away. He was pretty sure he knew the place, tucked between a dry cleaners and a bank. He must have passed it everyday on his way to work. The lights always seemed to be on, and there was always people trickling in and out, and he’d always wanted to pop in but he never felt like he had time. He set out on fast paced walk there, a million different thoughts running through his head.

The diner was warm. Quiet. Soft rock was playing on the radio. It was straight out of an old movie. He felt the inexplicable need to slide into a booth and order a milkshake, despite the fact that it was the middle of February. There were different rock and roll posters hanging on the walls, a couple of them were autographed. There were also a few of what looked like family photos behind the counter. He didn’t focus on those though. Instead he stared at the man sitting on a stool, nursing a black eye with a bag of frozen peas as he bickered with an older woman. 

“I’m fine,” Poe assured her. “We both know I’ve seen worse.”

“Like hell you are, young man,” The woman said. “You’re big mouth is going to get you killed.”

An older man came out from the back carrying a plate of french fries and slid it in front of Poe. He rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “She’s not wrong. You need to stop getting into trouble. And eating all of my food. I’m trying to run a business here kid.”

“Come on Han, ya know you love me,” Poe laughed, and Han just shook his head and rolled his eyes, but Finn didn’t miss the small smile that graced his face for a split second. 

Han looked up, and made eye contact with Finn. “Speaking of business, look. We have a paying customer.”

Poe looked over his shoulder, saw Finn, and smiled. “Oh this guy isn’t a customer. This is the guy that saved my ass from getting arrested. Come here buddy.”

“I’ll actually take a coffee,” Finn said, sliding into the stool next to Poe.  
“Make that two,” Poe added and, Han glared at him. “I’ll pay, I’ll pay.” Han turned around and took a couple steps forward to where the coffee machine was.

“So you’re Finn,” The woman said, and Finn blushed because it meant he had been talked about.

He felt Poe slap him on the back. “Finn this is Leia,” Poe said. “And the mean old grouch back there is Han.”

“Hey! watch yourself,” Leia pointed a finger at Poe, who actually looked a little scared for a second, before the huge grin came back. This guy was a lot different than he had been at the club. Not that it was a bad thing. Before there had been anger and hatred in his eyes. Now there was just light. It was refreshing.

Han came back with two mugs and set them on the counter. Finn reached for his wallet but Poe interjected. “I got this,” He said placing a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Think of it as a thanks-for-not-having-me-arrested gift.” Poe handed a ten dollar bill over to Han who didn’t even bother putting it in the register, just deposited it in his back pocket. 

“I think we should give the boys some privacy,” Han suggested to his wife, and Finn found himself blushing. Leia nodded her head in agreement and turned to Finn. 

“Don’t let his cockiness drive you away,” Leia urged him. “He’s a nice guy. Plus he hasn’t been on a date in a year. He needs this.”

“Oh my god,” Poe buried his face in his hands, which just made Leia chuckle. 

“We’ll be upstairs,” Han told them. “You can lock up when you’re done. Don’t destroy the place.” The couple came out from behind the counter, turning the open sign on the door to closed, before retreating upstairs, where Finn assumed there must be some sort of apartment. 

“Sorry about that,” Poe apologized, taking his hands off his face. Finn noticed that he had put the bag of frozen peas down a while ago. The bruise around his eye was slowly but surely starting to show. It was kind of hot, Finn thought. 

“It’s no problem,” Finn assured him. “How do you know them?”

“They were friends with my parents. They opened this place up when I was, about ten, and I started washing dishes here when I turned fifteen,” Poe explained and took a sip of coffee. “I come here a lot just to talk to them. Neither of them have a lot of family. Leia’s got a brother I think, but he travels a lot. Han’s kind of been alone his whole life.”

“No kids?” Finn asked. He didn’t want to be nosy, but he wanted to keep the conversation going. He liked listening to him talk. There was something about it that was calming. 

Poe chuckled, “That’s a funny story.” He gestured toward the wall of photos that Finn had noticed before. There were a bunch of them of Han and Leia with a little boy that looked eerily familiar. There were some of them with just the two of them, and one with a man with a ostentatiously long beard, but underneath it he kind of looked like Leia. And then one with a teenager, that looked a lot like--

“Holy shit,” Finn gawked. “That’s Kylo.” Finn almost hadn’t recognized him smiling. Kylo Ren, emo rock god, was smiling, and it probably wasn’t because he had been ruining someone’s life. “Holy shit, are they--”

“Kylo’s parents?” Poe interrupted. “Yeah.” 

“Do they know that you--”

 

“Punched, him?” Poe said. “No. I’m not going to tell them either.”

“Are you sure? I mean that’s their kid,” Finn reasoned. 

“Well he’s been a pretty awful one,” Poe muttered. “Sorry, you don’t want to hear about the guy that go you fired, from the other guy that got you fired.”

“No, keep going,” Finn urged. “Color me intrigued.” What he didn’t mention was how he figured he could listen to him talk to hours. About anything. He could be talking about fucking sand, and Finn would stay, in this stool, and hang onto every word.

“Leia and Han used to be in a band with Leia’s brother, Luke,” Poe began. “They weren’t famous outside of New York, but they did well. I think it was called The Resistance. Then Leia got pregnant and it wasn’t enough anymore. Luckily Leia and Han had plan Bs. Han started flying cargo planes, and Leia had a journalism degree to fall back on and became a war correspondent. Which meant spending a lot of time away from Kylo. Luke watched him on weekdays, and started to teach him everything he knew about music from an early age. Leia and Han tried to spend as much time with him on weekends that they could, but he always gravitated towards Luke, I don’t think as a kid he understood, all the sacrifices they were making were for him. Even when he got older, and they bought the diner so they could spend more time with him, he was filled with resentment. Mostly because Luke had left, because he wasn’t really needed anymore. I really don’t know what he’s up to now. Anyway, he started hanging with a bad crowd, and wouldn’t listen to Leia and Han at all, and without Luke he kind of fell through the cracks. After he got famous it was radio silence with his parents. Like they don’t even exist. They love him so much, and I swear if he walked through that door right now all would be forgiven.”

“He didn’t know who you were at the club though,” Finn mentioned. “And you said you’ve known them since you were a kid.”

“Like I said Kylo hated them, and did his best to avoid them,” Poe explained. “I on the other hand thought they hung the moon and the stars. I clung to them. They took me in when my parents died a year before I graduated high school, Kylo was long gone by then. I became a fucking pilot because of Han, joined the Air Force. When I was done, they let me stay with them til I got back on my feet and started doing commercial flights. It kills me how sad they’ve been because of Kylo. They’re good people. Deserve a lot better.”

“So when you heard about him from Rey,” Finn said. “You decided to knock some sense into him. Literally.”

Poe nodded. “The plan was to go and talk to him, get him to stop bothering Rey, go see his parents. But when I saw how he treated Rey, I knew he didn’t deserve parents like them. So the plan became to just get him to stop bothering Rey. And well, you know the rest I guess.”

“Wow,” Finn said, it was all he could bring himself to say.

“I know that’s a lot drop on you,” Poe told him. 

“Hey, I feel a lot better about losing my job now,” Finn joked, and was relieved when Poe smiled in return. 

“What’s that mean for you Finn,” Poe asked. “I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think being a bouncer at a club was your dream.”

 

Finn rolled his eyes at that, “What gave it away?”

“You’re way too nice of a guy to work at a place like that,” Poe said, giving him a once over. “It’s hard to find nice guys. Especially ones that look like you.”

“I want to be a teacher,” Finn said. “I was at NYU but I lost my scholarship after a rough semester. Couldn’t pay out of pocket, so I took the job at The First Order, to pay for my last year. I’d actually saved up enough money a few months ago, but couldn’t get around to quitting.”

“Why not?” Poe was sitting cross-legged in his stool, which could not be comfortable. Finn found himself explaining everything. How he had felt safe at The First Order. He was taken care of. It was hard to leave. Every time he thought about leaving he always talked himself out of it. The real world was scary. Even if he did get his degree, there was no guarantee he’d find a job, especially not in New York. 

“I get that,” Poe said. “Real life sucks. But for the record, I think you’d be a great teacher.”

 

“You hardly know me,” Finn reminded him, and took the last sip of his coffee. 

“Trust me I’m a good judge of character,” Poe said, and then looked at his watch. “Oh shit I’ve gotta get to the airport. Planes don’t fly themselves.”

“Isn’t that what autopilot is for?” Finn joked, but Poe looked unamused. Okay, so plane jokes were a no with this guy. At that moment, his phone started buzzing in his back pocket and he took it out to see that Rey was calling like she promised. He rejected the call, to which Poe visibly raised his eyebrows, and told himself he’d call her after Poe left. 

“So, uh, you have my number,” Poe said standing up. “And if you ever want to talk again… maybe over actual dinner…”

“Are you asking me out?” Finn asked. 

“Hell yeah,” Poe responded. 

Finn grinned. This was definitely not how he anticipated the night going. Fuck, he couldn't imagine any normal night ever going this way, for anybody, especially when you add in a guy like this. But it happened and it was still happened. If Finn had learned anything lately, it was that he wasn't going to deny himself things that could make him happy. “Well, then, as a wise man once said, hell yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this! I'll probably make a sequel with Jessika and Rey. Leave kudos and comments! Special thanks to @sheawrites for being the best beta ever and the bestest bud.


End file.
